Read Online The Creek by Jennifer L. Holm - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Jennifer L. Holm
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eat out of Teddy’s hand and raise his head when someone came into the dank room.They’d had him for a while, and Penny was starting to think that maybe it was time to let him go. She knew that the longer you kept a turtle, the better chance it had of dying. Also, she was pretty sure that the fumes from the cars were not good for it.
“He’s really hungry tonight,” Teddy said enthusiastically.
“Yeah?” Penny asked, peering into the cardboardbox. It was seriously smelly. Tom Ten pooped a lot for a turtle, and the grass in the box was getting kind of putrid. “Here, let’s take him out.”
She reached in, picked up Tom Ten easily, and carried him out of the garage onto the front lawn. It was dark, but everybody had turned on their front lights. She placed him on the fresh-cut grass and his head lunged out of the shell, tasting freedom.
“I think we should maybe let him go,” Penny said in a gentle voice.
“Let him go?” Teddy asked with a whine.
“Look at him. He’s sick of living in that stinky box. Remember what happened to Tom Nine?”
Benji, like Penny and Teddy, had kept Tom Nine in his garage. After several months of captivity, the turtle had somehow managed to overturn the box and had almost escaped when Benji’s dad backed over him in his Oldsmobile, smashing the turtle like a pancake.
Teddy’s face fell. “I guess so. But can I be the one to let him go?”
Tom Ten was already booking away from them in the grass.
“Sure,” Penny said. “Let’s do it in the backyard.”
Teddy grabbed up Tom Ten and they went around to the back, with Penny switching on the outsidelights as they walked.
When they reached the back lawn, Teddy put the turtle down. Tom Ten looked around, as if taking stock of his new environment, and then trucked away at a steady pace, heading deep into the dark woods.
“You think he’ll be okay in the woods?” Teddy asked, a little anxiously.
“Sure, he’s got a real hard shell,” she said, watching the painted number 10 glow faintly in the dark as the turtle moved through the grass.
Penny looked deep into the dark woods and secretly wondered if Tom Ten would be all right, or if by some horrible freak chance Caleb was back there in the thicket, just waiting to make turtle soup. She didn’t want to think about that.
“Look,” Teddy said, pointing to the night sky. “A shooting star.”
“Nah,” Penny said. “It’s probably just an alien.”
He looked at her and giggled.
They sat there on the patio and watched Tom Ten make his long journey until their mother called them in.
CHAPTER 6
M ac had come up with a plan to make some fast cash to buy fireworks for the Fourth of July.
“I really want to get Roman candles,” he said. “I know a guy I can buy them from.”
The parents refused to have anything more exciting than sparklers, insisting that the fireworks organized by the local fire department at a nearby park were perfectly adequate. But Mac, who had never been one to let grownups get in the way of his grand schemes, had been stockpiling fireworks forever—firecrackers, smoke bombs, bottle rockets—all purchased illegally. He kept his secret stash in a battered steel box tucked into the hollow of a tree. The tree itself was deep in the woods, far past the fort, situated on the edge of a high, treacherous cliff that overlooked the creek far below, so that even the most suspiciousfather wouldn’t find it if he decided to check out their fort. The boys also stored their BB guns in the tree.
“We’ve got all these kids here every night for softball,” Mac had said. “Let’s have a haunted house and make ‘em pay to go through.”
“We can do it at my house,” Benji suggested.
However, Mrs. Albright had no intention of letting every kid in the neighborhood tromp through her house. “You can do it in the backyard,” she said firmly.
And so the haunted house idea was amended to a “haunted trail,” to be held the evening before
“He’s really hungry tonight,” Teddy said enthusiastically.
“Yeah?” Penny asked, peering into the cardboardbox. It was seriously smelly. Tom Ten pooped a lot for a turtle, and the grass in the box was getting kind of putrid. “Here, let’s take him out.”
She reached in, picked up Tom Ten easily, and carried him out of the garage onto the front lawn. It was dark, but everybody had turned on their front lights. She placed him on the fresh-cut grass and his head lunged out of the shell, tasting freedom.
“I think we should maybe let him go,” Penny said in a gentle voice.
“Let him go?” Teddy asked with a whine.
“Look at him. He’s sick of living in that stinky box. Remember what happened to Tom Nine?”
Benji, like Penny and Teddy, had kept Tom Nine in his garage. After several months of captivity, the turtle had somehow managed to overturn the box and had almost escaped when Benji’s dad backed over him in his Oldsmobile, smashing the turtle like a pancake.
Teddy’s face fell. “I guess so. But can I be the one to let him go?”
Tom Ten was already booking away from them in the grass.
“Sure,” Penny said. “Let’s do it in the backyard.”
Teddy grabbed up Tom Ten and they went around to the back, with Penny switching on the outsidelights as they walked.
When they reached the back lawn, Teddy put the turtle down. Tom Ten looked around, as if taking stock of his new environment, and then trucked away at a steady pace, heading deep into the dark woods.
“You think he’ll be okay in the woods?” Teddy asked, a little anxiously.
“Sure, he’s got a real hard shell,” she said, watching the painted number 10 glow faintly in the dark as the turtle moved through the grass.
Penny looked deep into the dark woods and secretly wondered if Tom Ten would be all right, or if by some horrible freak chance Caleb was back there in the thicket, just waiting to make turtle soup. She didn’t want to think about that.
“Look,” Teddy said, pointing to the night sky. “A shooting star.”
“Nah,” Penny said. “It’s probably just an alien.”
He looked at her and giggled.
They sat there on the patio and watched Tom Ten make his long journey until their mother called them in.
CHAPTER 6
M ac had come up with a plan to make some fast cash to buy fireworks for the Fourth of July.
“I really want to get Roman candles,” he said. “I know a guy I can buy them from.”
The parents refused to have anything more exciting than sparklers, insisting that the fireworks organized by the local fire department at a nearby park were perfectly adequate. But Mac, who had never been one to let grownups get in the way of his grand schemes, had been stockpiling fireworks forever—firecrackers, smoke bombs, bottle rockets—all purchased illegally. He kept his secret stash in a battered steel box tucked into the hollow of a tree. The tree itself was deep in the woods, far past the fort, situated on the edge of a high, treacherous cliff that overlooked the creek far below, so that even the most suspiciousfather wouldn’t find it if he decided to check out their fort. The boys also stored their BB guns in the tree.
“We’ve got all these kids here every night for softball,” Mac had said. “Let’s have a haunted house and make ‘em pay to go through.”
“We can do it at my house,” Benji suggested.
However, Mrs. Albright had no intention of letting every kid in the neighborhood tromp through her house. “You can do it in the backyard,” she said firmly.
And so the haunted house idea was amended to a “haunted trail,” to be held the evening before
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